Sunday, October 23, 2011

Photos: the DC Grey Market, Ward 4 edition

Maya Robinson, the organizer of the DC Grey Market, a showcase for local food start-up businesses, told me that she was a bit concerned about holding her fourth Grey Market at such an off-the-beaten-path location as 1365 Kennedy Street NW. But Saturday's event was by all counts a huge success, as attendance reached 730 (that's a higher attendance rate than the last DC Grey Market, which was held in the not-so-off-the-beaten-path Mount Vernon Square neighborhood but attracted a mere 615 attendees).

I was there in the late afternoon, and the room was definitely packed, between the clientele and the 23 vendors. I recognized many of the customers as Ward 4 residents, but there were lots of folks from beyond our borders in attendance as well. And though the DCist roundup claims that due to the location the foodies that were best served were "those with cars," I have to say that I observed a lot of the attendees arriving by bike (there were many, many more bikes than usual parked along Colorado Avenue and Kennedy Street). Also: see the comment on the DCist piece by the astute Dan Reed, who gives a nice rundown of the many transit options that can be used to easily access the site: "Last I checked, the 52/54 and the E buses stop at 14th & Kennedy (right around the corner!), though the more exercise-minded could walk all the way from 16th & Kennedy (S2/S4) or Georgia & Kennedy (70s). This is pretty far from being have-to-have-a-car territory. Just saying."

Maya also told me that Amanda was a fantastic host, and that she'd be happy to have the market return to 1365 Kennedy Street NW. So look for more cool events in this space in the future.